RCMP Lay Charges in Pauingasse Christmas Eve Killing

On Tuesday, December 24, 2013, shortly after 5:00 am, Little Grand Rapids RCMP officers along with Major Crimes and Forensic Identification Units initiated an investigation after a twenty-seven (27) year old man was found unresponsive in a home on the Pauingassi First Nation.

The man was reported to have suffered undisclosed injuries and subsequently died at a local nursing station. The victim was identified as Neilson Garnett Owens (27).

An autopsy was completed on December 26, 2013 in Winnipeg that confirmed Owens died as a result of Homicide.

The investigation resulted in Second Degree Murder charges being laid against Rodney Suggashie (22) and Jamie Suggashie (24). Both men have been remanded into custody and appeared in Winnipeg Provincial Court on December 31st, 2013.

The victim and both accused men are residents of Pauingassi First Nation.

Pauingassi is located approximately 280 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

This is the twenty-first (21st) Homicide investigated by the RCMP this year.

In 2012, the RCMP investigated a total of nineteen (19) killings.

On May 21, 2013, the RCMP investigated the murder of a nineteen (19) year old man who was killed on the Pauingassi First Nation. It is believed the man was stabbed to death in a violent confrontation. The RCMP subsequently charged a fifteen (15) year old Pauingassi youth with Second Degree Murder in connection with the killing.